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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

IBD CT is the single best modality for diagnosis and staging of patients with suspected pancreatic carcinoma. While carefully performed real-time US is an excellent technique for determining the level and etiology of bile duct obstruction, it is of more limited value for diagnosis of tumors in the body and tail of the gland, and is less accurate than IBD CT for assessment of tumor resectability. Thus, most patients require IBD CT for accurate, nonoperative staging. ERCP and angiography continue to be useful adjunctive procedures for evaluation of patients with suspected pancreatic carcinoma, particularly for evaluation of equivocal CT or US findings. An isolated pancreatic mass, that is, a mass with no ancillary CT or US findings of carcinoma (local extension, distant metastases), is a non-specific finding and requires further evaluation with either ERCP or angiography, and perhaps most importantly, with FNAB. Other neoplasms may mimic pancreatic ductal carcinoma, particularly islet cell carcinoma and lymphoma. Pancreatitis also can result in a focal pancreatic mass, simulating a neoplasm. These diseases usually respond to therapy and thus it is essential to confirm the radiologic diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma with biopsy, particularly if surgery is not planned or if chemoradiation therapy is anticipated.
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PMID:Radiologic diagnosis and staging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. 253 84

Since pancreatitis can be produced experimentally in dogs by embolization of microspheres into the pancreatic arterial circulation, there has been speculation that intentional or inadvertent embolization of the pancreas in human subjects could also produce pancreatitis. Although such therapeutic embolization has increased, no pathologically documented case of this complication has been recorded. We have reported the first such case occurring in a patient with a large, highly vascular, nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the tail of the pancreas preoperatively embolized with Gianturco coils and Gelfoam particles suspended in sodium tetradecylsulfate solution to facilitate distal pancreatectomy. The resultant hemorrhagic pancreatitis and duodenal necrosis required a total pancreatectomy. We conclude that, by itself, occlusion of the origin of the splenic and gastroduodenal arteries with coils would have been effective and without complication; however, the addition of Gelfoam particles in a sclerosing solution reduced the microscopic pancreatic circulation to a critical point and resulted in hemorrhagic pancreatitis.
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PMID:Hemorrhagic pancreatitis: a complication of transcatheter embolization treated successfully by total pancreatectomy. 299 Feb 44

Ultrasound has proven invaluable in detecting and evaluating pancreatic pseudocysts, and it is now a standard test to rule out complications of pancreatitis. In reviewing the authors' experience with 122 patients treated surgically for a pancreatic pseudocyst, five patients were identified in whom an ultrasound demonstrated a pseudocyst that was associated with an unexpected cancer at the time of operation. A sixth patient, with a pseudocyst documented by ultrasound, died prior to surgery and was found at autopsy to have metastatic common bile duct carcinoma. There was little difference in presenting symptoms, age, frequency of alcoholism, or physical findings compared with patients with pseudocysts secondary to pancreatitis. In two patients, pseudocysts were found in the tail of the pancreas at operation, in addition to carcinoma. In the other three patients, no pseudocyst was found; however, a subcapsular splenic hematoma was present in one. Five patients had metastatic disease, three from pancreatic adenocarcinoma, one from islet cell carcinoma, and one from a common bile duct carcinoma. One patient with a pancreatic adenocarcinoma confined to the head underwent a Whipple procedure and has no evidence of disease 6 months later. Malignancy may cause or coexist with pancreatic pseudocysts. Ultrasound is often not helpful in distinguishing pseudocysts associated with malignancy from those associated with pancreatitis. Biopsy should be performed to rule out malignancy when operating for pancreatic pseudocysts.
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PMID:Carcinoma masquerading as a pancreatic pseudocyst on ultrasound. 620 50

Microcystic adenoma of the pancreas is a benign tumor with no malignant potential and may not require surgery if it is asymptomatic. In the past, a mass containing more than six small (<2-cm) cysts at ultrasonography (US) has been considered to be diagnostic for microcystic adenoma. However, a retrospective study of 36 patients with focal or diffuse pancreatic lesions containing over six small cysts demonstrated that this finding can occur in a wide variety of neoplastic and inflammatory lesions, most of which are malignant. These lesions included adenocarcinoma (n = 18), mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (n = 2), islet cell carcinoma (n = 1), lymphoma (n = 1), sarcoma (n = 1), metastases (n = 2), pancreatitis (n = 4), and adenoma (n = 7). Thus, a finding of multiple small cysts in a pancreatic mass is not specific for microcystic adenoma, and if diagnosis is based on US findings alone, many malignant tumors will be misdiagnosed as microcystic adenomas. Furthermore, computed tomography provides only limited assistance in this setting due to overlapping findings. Needle biopsy can be highly accurate in diagnosing both microcystic adenoma and other malignant lesions and should generally be performed for all lesions with the US features described earlier.
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PMID:Microcystic features at US: a nonspecific sign for microcystic adenomas of the pancreas. 1170 16